Mabona said the department was worried about the numbers.
He said the decision to close schools comes after an assessment was done in collaboration with the health department.
The department would continue to work closely with the health department, he said.
“What is encouraging now is that it has been announced that all our educators are going to be vaccinated ... The information that came from that briefing was that the process must only take 10 days. We will be making sure that we avail our staff so that they can receive those doses,” said Mabona.
“We will be working very tirelessly to make sure the process of vaccination is done without any failure.”
The department was working to manage the pandemic, he added.
TimesLIVE